Re: [RFC][PATCH] input: Introduce device information ioctl

[Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com>]

On Tue, Dec 07, 2010 at 11:48:28AM +0100, Kay Sievers wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 10:16, Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi Henrik,
> >
> > On Tue, Dec 07, 2010 at 08:25:26AM +0100, Henrik Rydberg wrote:
> >> Today, userspace sets up an input device based on the data it emits.
> >> This is not always enough; a tablet and a touchscreen may emit exactly
> >> the same data, for instance, but the former should be set up with a
> >> pointer whereas the latter does not need to. Recently, a new type of
> >> touchpad has emerged where the buttons are under the pad, which changes
> >> handling logic without changing the emitted data. This patch introduces
> >> a new ioctl, EVIOCGDEVINFO, which allows userspace to extract information
> >> about the device resulting in proper setup.
> >
> > If we agree that the new ioctl is suitable we'llalso need to wireit up
> > through sysfs. Also, can we keep all definitions to INPUT_ namespace?
> 
> Please don't add new ioctls which are not extensible. The ioctl should
> carry the length or the version of the structure it asks for, so it
> can be extended in the future.

Size of ioctl data is encoded in ioctl, it can be extended easily. For
examples take a look at how EVIOCGKEYCODE and EVIOCGSKEYCODE are handled
in recent kernels.

> Sysfs should be good enough for such
> interface though.
> 

-- 
Dmitry